Privacy and Confidentiality

Accredited Mental Health Social Workers and registered Clinical Psychologists are bound by codes of ethics, which includes maintaining confidentiality about what you discuss with them. However, there may be circumstances where there is a need to discuss your information with others, such as when there is a concern about your safety or the safety of others. The terms of your privacy and confidentiality are detailed more fully in the "Privacy and Confidentiality” component of the “Client Consent Form".

 

Ethical and Respectful Practices

As already described, your practitioner is bound by a Code of Ethics as governed by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) for Social Workers and by the Australia Psychological Society (APS) for Clinical Psychologists who are also registered with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA). These Codes of Ethics detail the standards of practice that you can expect of your practitioner. This includes:

• attending to you in a respectful way through listening and empathic responses.

• valuing of your unique lived experience, sensitive exploration of your understanding of the problems being experienced as well as your strengths and capacities.

• the upholding of principles of client self-determination or self-direction through respecting your choices and encouraging your own decision-making processes.

• Collaboration and consultation with you about the process of your counselling 

 

Communication practices

Initial contact will be made with you by phone. From there, documents detailing the terms of service may be emailed or posted to you. Email is used for the exchange of documents and appointment scheduling. A text message or email will be sent to you as a reminder of your upcoming appointment. All aspects of counselling occur during formally scheduled appointments (whether face to face/telehealth). Phone calls and emails will be attended to during business hours. We do offer some limited after-hours appointments; however, we are not a crisis service and details of these services are provided over the page. Our phone number is to a mobile, however this is a shared mobile between all practitioners so be aware that phone or text messages are not exclusively read or heard by your practitioner, however any information shared in this context will be protective of your privacy and dignity.

 

Appointment duration 

Initial appointments can be between 50-90 minutes. Ongoing/subsequent appointments are 50-60 minutes unless negotiated otherwise. If you are late for your appointment, this will limit the duration of your appointment, as there will likely be a follow-on time slot booked for someone else and it is inequitable to reduce another's appointment time frame. 

 

Appointment rescheduling & missed appointments.

If you are unable to attend your appointment, we request, if possible, that you give 48 hours notice in advance of your need to cancel/reschedule an appointment. If you miss an appointment and provide no notice about this, as a general rule, we will leave it to you to recontact us to re-book an appointment. If you cancel your appointment at short notice on a number of occasions, this may impact on whether we are able to offer further appointments. 

 

For Victims Services Clients, if you advise of your inability to attend an appointment within 24 hours of your scheduled session, or if you do not turn up for your appointment, this is considered a 'no-show' and has to be recorded as such. Victims Services allow two no-shows across the duration of your counselling service and your counsellor will be paid a no-show fee twice only per client. If you accrue more than 2 no-show appointments, you may not be offered follow on appointments by your counsellor. This will be discussed should this become an issue. 

 

Fees and rebates

Services provided by a Mental Health Social Worker:

Individual appointment fees are $160/hr for ongoing appointments. The Medicare rebate for clients referred under a Mental Health Care Plan is $77.80/session.

 

Services provided by a Clinical Psychologist.

Individual appointment fees are $210/hr for ongoing appointments. The Medicare rebate for clients referred under a Mental Health Care Plan is $129.55 for ongoing appointments.

 

Teachers Health, Uni Health and Nurses & Midwives Health Funds may offer rebates for your session depending on your level of cover. Contact your fund for eligibility information.

 

Clients attending under the Victims Services Program are not charged for appointments as the NSW Department of Justice will rebate your counsellor $120/hour (minimum) for your appointment(s). 

 

If you receive a government unemployment or disability pension and are experiencing financial hardship, we invite you to discuss fees with your practitioner. Initial appointment fees will not be reduced.

 

Reports & Outcomes Measurements

As part of a formal referral process, we may be required to provide an initial assessment or progress report, or some feedback to your referrer, about the progress of counselling and the outcomes that are being noticed which relate to the goals that you identify in collaboration with your counsellor. Outcomes of counselling can be measured in a variety of ways and your counsellor will discuss this with you at your initial and/or ongoing appointment(s).

 

Referral to other services

At times it can be identified that our service may not be the most suitable support arrangement for you, that it would be beneficial for you to consult a particular specialist or that you would benefit from additional complimentary services or support. Should this occur, we will openly discuss this with you and an alternate plan can be developed in consultation with you and/or with your initial referrer.  

 

Emergency and after hours support services

We are a non-crisis service and are only available during business hours. Please note that our phone (text, answering service and missed calls) and email is not attended to after business hours. Whilst we have a mobile phone as our main number, this phone is not taken home after business hours.

 

Should you require immediate emergency support, or support after hours, we encourage you to make contact with any of the below services. 

 

After hours urgent and emergency contacts